Do I need Apartment Renters Insurance, Coop Insurance, and Condo Insurance?
Insure my apartment, condo or coop? Why?
Does the Building Owner Insure My Apartment? In my daily routine I communicate with dozens of people looking for insurance, or looking to protect themselves from loss or damage. Typical requests span from $5000 cars to restaurants, churches multi-million dollar buildings. When they are done explaining what they are looking to insure, how much they are looking to insure it for and what they what it insured against, my next question is always, “Who insures your home?”
Our office is in New York, NY and as many would expect the majority of the dwellers in the city reside in an apartment of some sort, be it a renters unit, a condo or a coop, and more than half of the time when I inquire as to who insured their home, they tell me this:
“Apartment insurance, I don’t need it, the building has it.”
Part 2 may be true; however it has nothing at all to do with part 1, what’s inside and what is covered.
Does the Building Owner Insure My Apartment? If not, what does the building owner insure?
The building owner insured the building: The shell, the liability for bodily injury or property damage in the building’s common areas, and perhaps the machinery.
THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE LIABILITY FOR YOUR NEGLIGENCE. OR PROPERTY COVERAGE FOR YOUR BELONGINGS.
What does it cover me for?
If you read your lease agreement or the association’s master policy, you will most likely find out that the building’s responsibility “Ends at the Primer and the Sub-Floor.” The primer is the coat of paint that goes under the finish coat of paint, and the sub-floor is the floor under your floor. What this means that if the building were to burn down to the ground, they would replace the building “To the Primer and the Sub-Floor.”
This excludes the following of yours if you are are renter:
- Personal Property
- TV’s, DVD Players, Computers and Electronic devices.
- Furniture
- Clothing
- Computers
If you own the condo or coop, add this to the excluded list:
- Counters, Cabinets, Built In Shelves
- Floors (Hardwood, Tile, Carpet, Marble, Granite)
- Permanently Installed Light Fixtures
- Molding & Wainscoting
- Refrigerator, Stove, Range, Sinks, Showers & Tubs
Am I Insured if someone gets hurt on my property?
No. You are not. If someone does get hurt on your property, the building is not responsible to cover you. If you do not have insurance, then you quite specifically, DO NOT HAVE INSURANCE. A major component of home insurance is the liability which will cover or defend you in the event of a claim against you for injury or property damage to others. Your property includes your doormat, even if it in the hallway. Yes, if someone trips over your doormat you may be sued. And unlike the property in your unit which has a finite value, the losses that may incur as a result of a bodily injury claim may be unlimited.
Q: What is covered (by the building?)
A: The building. Usually, as your lease agreement may state, up to the primer. That means if the building burns down, they will rebuild it, and give you back a space to park your stuff in. Oh, wait, all of your stuff burned up, that wasn’t the building, so it wasn’t covered.
Q: Where have you been?
A: Well, now that the building is crispy and YOU had no insurance and the notion that you were going to sue them for gross negligence for allowing the building to burn down to cover the loss of you stuff is over, you now need a place to live until they rebuild. Considering that a 150 sq foot 2 star hotel in New York NY costs about $150.00 a night, and your building will take about 8 months minimum to rebuild, you now need another $30,000+ to find shelter or you could rent another apartment for $1500-$2000 a month and save $15,000 or so. Who is going to pay for that? Not the building. Their insurance is paying to protect them from your frivolous lawsuit and to rebuild the building.
Q: Who will pay for my stuff?
A: Nobody will. Or, you, if you have the money. You didn’t have insurance on your apartment, coop or condo; you left that to the building. Now they have their own problems, and they do not include you.
Q: Where is your stuff?
A: Gone, for good, forever.
Q: Ok, what else will apartment insurance cover?
A: In addition to your stuff, and the loss of use, an apartment insurance policy will also provide liability insurance. Liability insurance is the insurance that will protect you if someone gets injured on you property. This coverage can also be modified to include liable and slander as well. Losing you stuff can be one thing, but being sued and losing a judgment for several hundred thousand dollars in damages can be unrecoverable.
The next time you buy a car, new or used, and call your insurance agent and ask how much it will cost to insure you car, stop and think how much it would cost you to replace everything in your apartment, coop or condo and how much it would cost to be without a home for up to a year. When you consider that a basic Apartment, coop or condo insurance policy in a big city costs about the same as a weekend stay in a hotel, ask your insurance agent for some guidance.
